A Wave Like No Other: Chapter Two

“Ah! Finally! I get a day off!” Nanami cheered. It was true she always strived to be a great shinobi, and there was rarely a day when she wasn’t seen bothering the Hokage for a mission, but every now and then she needed a break, and today was that day. She was spending the day with Ren, her best friend since the academy. They hadn’t had a day to see eachother without their kunai’s in their hands.

So today they were going to spend all day stuffing themselves with ramen, and enjoying the fact that they were alive and lived to see another day.

“Oi, Nanami!”

Nanami turned to see an older girl with long purple hair rushing towards her. She instantly smiled.

“Tsukiko Sayuri! Where have you been?” Nanami cried, immediately leaping towards the kunoichi, who laughed at the younger girl’s enthusiasm.

“I just got back from my first Jounin mission! I was headed to get a bowl of ramen. I figured that’s where I would find my favorite Chuunin.” Sayuri grinned.

“Mahhh, why didn’t you tell me you got promoted to Jounin?!” Nanami hung her head. “I’ll be a Chuunin forever, dammit.”

“Oh Nanami. You’re only seventeen.” Sayuri sighed when Nanami continued to pout. “I tried to tell you before I left on the mission, but you were out in Wind country. I told Fugaku to tell you the moment you got back.”

“That explains a lot,” Nanami scowled. She hadn’t heard so much as a whisper from her former team mate since she arrived from her mission a week ago. “Damn Uchihas, always thinking they are above everyone.”

“Mah Nanami-chan,” Sayuri scolded her as they continued walking towards the ramen shop. “Fugaku isn’t that bad. He probably had his own mission to attend to. It’s the shinobi life after all. Why do you two always fight? Weren’t you two on the same genin team?”

“Of course we were,” Nanami replied, her arms casually resting behind her head. “But he thinks his clan is so much better than mine just because the Honoka’s are a smaller clan. The bastard.” Nanami growled thinking of all the jibes that Fugaku had goaded her with as children. He hadn’t done much growing up since then.

“Besides,” Nanami continued. “Fugaku has probably been too busy with Mikoto to remember a simple message to give to a lowly clan member such as myself.”

“Well, you’re right about that,” said a manly voice behind her. Nanami whipped around, already pointing an accusing finger at the speaker.

“Shut your mouth Fugaku! Why didn’t you tell me about Sayuri’s mission?!” she screamed at the casual looking Uchiha. His only response was to frown at her outburst.

“I was busy with other duties. My clan has more responsibilities than some,” Fugaku deadpanned. He wasn’t looking to pick a fight with Nanami, but it was also so easy to get her riled up. He sighed and walked ahead of them to lead them away from the growing crowd that Nanami’s loudness was attracting. She followed of course.

“Dammit Uchiha don’t walk away from me!” Nanami screeched. Fugaku sighed. He really wished that the Hokage would have picked someone else to tell Nanami of her mission.

“Fugaku-kun,” Sayuri called to him. “Would you like to get ramen with us?” Sayuri asked. She ignored Nanami’s indignant look. She was only being polite. Fugaku wasn’t that bad to look at either. It would make the meal more pleasant with an attractive man with them.

“My apologies Sayuri-san,” Fugaku responded, turning to Nanami. “But the hokage has summoned us. He is giving us  a mission.”

Ignoring the put-off expression on Sayuri’s face, Nanami gaped at Fugaku. “Are you serious? But this is my day off! I never take days off!!”

“Nanami-chan?” said a new speaker.

Nanami turned to see Nohara Ren emerging from the ramen shop they had agreed to meet at. His brows were furrowed as he glanced at Fugaku, eyeing him up and down. Noburu had never been fond of the moody Uchiha. Fugaku had always had a bad habit of talking down to Nanami due to her blood. Nanami was brass and often out spoken, but she was also one of the kindest and trusting people he had ever met. She did not deserve the treatment she received from Fugaku.

“Noburu-san, you are also summoned to the hokage’s office. For a mission,” Fugaku said, scowling at the way the other man was looking at him. He didn’t take kindly to dirty looks, especially from inferior shinobi. He was only doing what the hokage ordered. Noburu had always seemed to have a personal vendetta against Fugaku, ever since the academy. If the man had been a true shinobi he would have confronted Fugaku on his issues with him long ago. Fugaku had no respect for cowards.

“Dammit Fugaku, we were about to join lunch! Why didn’t you tell us sooner?” Nanami snapped. The hokage rarely ordered immediate summons, unless it was an S rank mission that required an immediate dispatch of shinobi on the mission. Her blood boiled as Fugaku glared at her.

“I came as soon as I could,” he responded coldly. It was true, he could have contacted them sooner, as it was not an immediate summons, however he had been distracted by a certain genin kunoichi. Mikoto had never been one to accept ‘no’ for an answer and when she batted her eyes and asked for a moment of his time, he couldn’t really find it in him to say no to her. She may have only been twelve, but the girl was rather persistent. Half of him hated how easily he could give in to her. He silently vowed to work on that.

“We better not keep the Hokage waiting,” Fugaku said with an air of finality, turning on his heel he jumped to the nearest roof top and started off at a sprint to the Hokage tower.

“Dammit Uchiha!”

Fugaku tried not to flinch as Nanami began to scream in rage.

---

“Hokage-sama,” Mameha bowed to the older man behind the desk. She had unfortunately witnessed the exchange between Fugaku and Nanami. She had been notified of her summons earlier that morning by another Jounin whose name she unfortunately didn’t get. She had been on her way to Hokage tower when she had witnessed the echange. It was quite unfortunate the two couldn’t get along. They would make a cute couple. Although she could only imagine the look on Mikoto’s face if she ever voiced that thought out loud.

“Mameha-san,” The older man smiled back. “How have you been my dear?” The Sandaime hokage asked her. Mameha was donned in her Jounin flak jacket, and a very lovely blue kimono with, if his eyesight wasn’t failing him, light blue koi fish swimming along the edges. Mameha had always had a wonderful taste for kimono. It was a shame she wore them on missions, he had seen quite a few beautiful pieces get destroyed in the line of fire.

“I’ve been doing wonderful Sandaime-sama,” she said back politely. “How is the paperwork coming?” she asked. She laughed politely behind her hand when the same heaved a big sigh and leaned back in his chair with his pipe.

“Rather unappealing,” he said driely.

“Just between the two of us,” he said, leaning forward with a mischivious smile on his face. “I’m hoping to retire and hand off this title in a few years. I’m getting too old for this kind of thing,” he said, giving her a big grin. She gave him a small giggle behind one of her fans.

“Oh don’t say such things,” she said coyly. Mameha liked to think of herself as well-versed in the art of conversation. Her mother and father had been very strict in her training, both with her dancing and with her ninja skills. Mameha had never been more thankful to them. “You exaggerate with your age.”

“Mameha-san,” the sandaime laughed loudly. It was true. He wasn’t even forty yet, but he felt so much older. “Talking with you always makes me feel younger. If only it actually made me younger. Then I can imagine you would be very popular.” He chuckled. It was the first comment that actually drew a true laugh from Mameha’s throat. It wasn’t a dainty laugh that had been trained, but a natural flow of breath.

“Dammit Uchiha! Don’t think I won’t make a scene in front of the hokage!”

Mameha dipped her face behind her fan to hide her grin. She watched as the hokage made a similar gesture with his hand. It was never a secret when Honoka Nanami entered a room. Mameha listened intently to hear a low murmuring of voices; one strick, probably Fugaku, the other was low and gentle, most likely Ren.

When the door to the office opened, and the other three shinobi walked in, both Mameha and the Sandaime managed to contain their amusement. Mameha tried hard to contain her giggles at the irritation clear on Nanami’s flushed face and the furrowed eyebrows on Fugaku. The four shinobi stood silently as the third hokage eyed them up and down, letting them sweat with the idea of the hokage hearing them argue. Eventually the hokage leaned back in his chair, easing the other three shinobi into a state of relaxation.

“So I assume you all know why you’ve been called here?” the Sandaime asked, his hand folded in front of his face, his face unreadable. Mameha nodded her head quietly.
“Only that we’ve been summoned for a mission sir,” Nanami spat, her eyes boring into Fugaku. Fugaku ignored her, rubbing his nose on his sleeve. If the hokage saw Nanami’s eye twitch, he made no comment.

“Yes Nanami-san,” the sandaime said, not moving an inch. “I’ve summoned you for a very special mission. I think you will be able to appreciate this most.” The older man reached for a scroll on the corner of his desk. He slowly unrolled the scroll and read it as if he saw for the first time. He idly tapped his finger on his lip. Finally he looked up and stuck his eyes on Nanami.

“Nanami-san, I assume you are well aware that you are the only Chuunin in this room, yes?” the sandaime asked. His intention was not to embarrass the kunoichi, but he needed to make his point very clear.

Nanami felt her face flush. She could see Fugaku’s smirk out of the corner of her eye, and the pitiful looks on Mameha and Ren’s faces. She had been on several missions to try and prove herself skillful enough to be promoted to Jounin, but her rash behavior always seemed to be her downfall. Even if the missions had been successful, her reckless behavior seemed to can her every time. She swallowed hard.

“Yes hokage-sama.” She said tightly. Shame bloomed in her chest.

“Well then I’m sure you’ll be very interested in this mission.” The hokage said, leaning back in his chair.

“I normally wouldn’t give this type of mission to a Chuunin, but due to the lack of shinobi due to this war, and the fact that your teammates are all Jounin, I’ve decided to make an exception.”

Twist the kunai a little more Sandaime-sama, Nanami thought bitterly. She could only imagine the jabs she would get from Fugaku later. It had only been a matter of time before she was ordered to take a higher ranking mission. They were currently engaged in the Second Shinobi World War. Shinobi were scarce in every hidden village.

“First off, I’m assigning this mission to Fugaku-san. He will be team Captain. Noburu-san is your medic and tracker. Mameha is your sensor and backup medic. Nanami-san will be your support.

“This is a very important mission. And if completed successfully,” the Sandaime paused for dramatic effect. “Then Nanami-san will immediately be promoted to Jounin rank upon your arrival.”

At this, Nanami jerked her head up and stared at the hokage. Normally she would have to apply and beg the hokage to give her a mission that would make her eligible for a promotion. She was immediately suspicious.

“What type of mission is this hokage-sama?” Mameha inquired, also clearly suspicious of the mission. The Sandaime smiled.

“As I’ve said, a very important one.” The sandaime said, his face turning serious. “This is an S-class mission.”

He absorbed the look of shock on all of their faces.

“We have obtained information from one of our sources in Water Country that a very violent act has taken place in Kirigakure. It will be to our best interest to act before any of the other hidden villages get wind of this information. We don’t know how many other shinobi villages have spies in Water Country and I’m not willing to risk it.

“This is classified information that I’m sure will not be repeated. The word is that a clan in Kirigakure was attacked last night. Supposedly the entire clan was murdered, but we’ve been led to believe there may be survivors.”

Judging by the look on the faces of the four shinobi standing in front of him, none of them, even the mighty Uchiha Fugaku had been blindsided by the details of this mission. The sandaime forced his most stern look at them.

“Your mission is to travel to Water Country and rescue any survivors from this village. This clan’s compound is located about two miles away from Kirigakure, but you are to, under no circumstances, approach Kirigakure. Konoha’s interference cannot be found out.

“As you know, we are three years into the Second Shinobi World War. Surprisingly, Kirigakure hasn’t done much mettling in this war, at least not with Konoha. We do not want to antagonize them. You are to go under cover, without anything to link you to Konoha. If the mission fails, there must be no link to us.

“This also goes without saying, if anyone on this team is captured by the enemy..”

The Sandaime didn’t have to say anything more. The mission was essentially a suicide mission. To protect their village and their country, if any of them were caught, they would have to die. Whether by the mercy of their comrades, or by suicide, it was something that must be done. Konoha could not be involved with Kirigakure’s affairs.

“Fugaku-san,” Sandaime said, standing and handing the mission scroll to the Uchiha. “Here are your mission details. I recommend you go over them. Perhaps over a quick lunch. You leave tonight.”

The four shinobi knew they were dismissed. They all turned and left without another word.

---

They all ended up retrieving to-go ramen and heading back to the Uchiha compound. Fugaku insisted they could get privacy there. If the mission hadn’t had so much classified information they would have been able to stay at the ramen shop. Nanami was almost disappointed that it was such a high ranking mission.

Once they were all seated in a private room in Fugaku’s house, they all sat at a low table in the center of the room and began to eat while Fugaku unrolled the mission scroll.

“It says here that the survivors we are looking for are from the Umino clan,” Fugaku began, his ramen untouched. “They are a clan well versed in water jutsu. It is listed here that due to a kekkei genkai they were allowed to manipulate water molecules without hand signs. They only needed a small amount of chakra,” Fugaku read, his brows furrowing.

Nanami slurped a large amount of noodles in her mouth. Mameha gestured for the scroll, opening Fugaku’s ramen for him. He sighed before making the exchange.

“The clan compound is located 2.3 miles outside of the Kirigakure gates.” Mameha noted. “I guess the rumors of Kirigakure are true. The prejudice against kekkei genkai users must be pretty bad. Do you think that’s why they were attack?”

Fugaku shook his head. “I can’t see that. If their kekkei genkai was so powerful, they must have been able to protect themselves. The attack itself must have been a civil war all in itself.”

“Well, Kirigakure is notorious for their civil wars. Especially the ones with kekkei genkai users.” Mameha said, delicately eating some noodles.

“I don’t understand,” Nanami spoke up. “What makes you think they were so powerful? It could have been a simple act of discrimination.”

“Not likely,” Ren piped up, his noodles momentarily forgotten. “They must be valuable. The Sandaime is concerned about the survivors ending up in another shinobi village. If they are truly strong and they are taken to a country where their blood isn’t hated so much, it’s quite possible that they could be a powerful asset in this war. It could mean bad news for us,” he said, frowning down at his cooling ramen.

For a moment everyone was quiet.

“This really is an important mission,” Mameha muttered. Everyone seemed to have lost their appetite.

“And that’s why we’ll be going over the details,” Fugaku said. He lifted out a world map. His finger found where their village was. He began tracing his finger down the red block that was Fire Country.

“We’ll go all the way south of Fire country until we come to the border of Wood country. We’ll cross the border and keep south. Once we hit the water, we’ll have to cross by boat most likely. We’ll cross these two islands. Once we hit the main island, it should only be a few miles until we reach the compound. That is mountain covered part of Kiri, so it may take us a bit to fully locate the Umino compound.”

“Leave that to me,” Mameha said, her tone firm. “I was assigned you’re tracker for a reason. If there are any survivors, it will take one spike of chakra and I’ll find them.”

“Good,” Fugaku said. “If the mission happens to go south and we fail, we will get out of Kiri and cross O’uzu Island all the way down to Sea Country, and then loop back up to Tea Country, then into Fire Country. We are friendly with Tea Country, so we should have no problem crossing. And if any of us are captured, if your survival looks slim, you will be left behind. I hope you all will have the sense to kill yourselves before you get interrogated.”

“We got it Fugaku,” Nanami snapped. “Nothing can lead back to Konoha. We understand.”
Normally Fugaku would argue back and forth with her, but due to the serious situation he gave her a curt nod.

“We leave at eight tonight. I will lead us down until we hit Wood Country. We’ll use the diamond formation, pattern one, through there. Once we reach the edge of Wood Country we will be under the disguise of civilians. When we reach the main island of Water Country, Mameha will scout us until we get within five miles of the Umino compound. From there we will fall into the diamond formation, pattern four. We will meet at the outskirts of the compound and go into together. Any questions?”

Everyone shook their head in a negative.

“Ok. Ren, you will serve as the tracker first and medic second. You will work with Mameha as she sense out the area. You both will stay back and keep yourselves out of the line of fire if at all possible. Nanami and I will take the front. Nanami, you’ll be my immediate support and my right hand. I’ll be the major offensive. You will distract the enemy from Ren and Mameha.”

Everyone gave a firm nod.

“Alright. Everyone pack what you need. Go easy on your kunai and shuriken. Remember we need to pose as ninja for the most part.”

Fugaku was polite enough to escort them all to the end of the compound. On his way back his was met with a young girl waiting on the steps that led into his house.

“Mikoto?” Fugaku asked. The little girl had her head bowed. When she lifted her head, Fugaku saw tears glistening in her deep black eyes. “What’s wrong?” Fugaku immediately asked, crouching to the girl’s side.

“You are leaving me,” Mikoto sniffed. Her face seemed to scrunch up in pain as she said the words. “You are leaving on a mission!” she sobbed, hiding her face in her dark shirt sleeve. Fugaku smiled gently at her, settling his hands on her shoulders.

“Of course I am. I am a shinobi.” He said. He knew it would not comfort the little girl, but it was the best way to describe it to her. She was a genin herself. This is what she had to look forward to.

“How long will you be gone?” Mikoto cried, the tears streaming down her face now. He tried to smile brightly at her. She seemed to work so hard for his smiles. He liked when she smiled back at him.

“Only a few weeks. I’ll be back before you even have a chance to miss me,” Fugaku said, holding her hands. She stared at their joined hands for a moment before looking in his face. She reached out a small hand and rested it on his cheek. Suddenly she leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on his cheek.

“Promise me one thing Fugaku-chan,” she said looking deep into his eyes. “Promise when you return...you will marry me.”

Fugaku couldn’t help but laugh at the very serious look on the girl’s face. He smiled at her again. “I cannot promise that. I have already promised that I will marry you when you are ready. Not a minute sooner.”

“But I want to be your wife now!” She exclaimed, her arms folding and a pout forming on her mouth. “My mother has been teaching me how to be a good wife. I am ready.”

“Oh?” Fugaku said mockingly as he moved to seat himself next to the young girl. “And how are you ready to be a wife Mikoto-chan?”

“I am ready!” Mikoto protested, turning to him. “I want to be at your door to greet you when you come home. I want to make you dinner, and draw your baths. I want to be able to kiss you!” Mikoto exclaimed, her entire face all the way up to her hair a deep red. Fugaku couldn’t help but laugh.

“You are a silly girl, do you know that?” Fugaku said. At Mikoto’s scowl he continued. “How about this? I will marry you immediately, no matter what your age, and all you have to do is become a Jounin.”

“Become a Jounin?” Mikoto scowled. “But I want to be a wife! I don’t care to be a ninja.”
“I’m just making a proposition. You don’t have to agree. You can wait until you are of marrying age. It’s only what? Six years away?” Fugaku teased.

“No! That is too long! I’ll do it then. I’ll become a Jounin! And then you will be my husband!” Mikoto exclaimed. Fugaku was happy to see a fire burning in the girl’s eyes. He smiled, and she smiled back.

“Alright. Just for practice, how about you make me dinner tonight? Since you are so excited?”

“Yes!” Mikoto screeched, leaping to her feet and tugging him up by his shirt. “Can I draw your bath too?”

“We’ll see,” Fugaku chuckled. He made his way inside, and kicked off his sandals. Mikoto followed him in, slipping out of her sandals and straightening her black kimono.

“Fugaku-chan?” She asked, slipping her smaller hand in his as they made their way to the kitchen. He tilted his head to show he was listening. “You must promise me one more thing.”

Fugaku took a seat at the table while she made her way to the kitchen. “More promises about marriage?” he teased. Mikoto paused for a moment.

“You must promise to come home alive. I wish to marry no one but you.” Mikoto muttered, her eyes trained on the rice she began to cook. For a moment Fugaku was quiet, but as he watched the young determined girl make her way around his kitchen, he realized that he truly loved her. He wanted to come back to see her face.

“Of course Mikoto-chan. I promise I will come back alive. Only for you.”

Mikoto made his dinner with a dreamy smile on her face the whole time.